It was fitting the offer that eventually sealed Malik Hartford’s recruitment came in part from someone who was also involved with his very first Division I offer.
Ohio State safeties coach Perry Eliano was Hartford’s lead recruiter while he was the cornerbacks coach at Cincinnati, the first school that offered Hartford in September 2021. The Buckeyes presented their scholarship opportunity to the four-star 2023 Ohio safety and his family on Jan. 22 when he and his family took an unofficial visit to Columbus, so it’s not as if OSU spent eons of time luring in Hartford to Columbus. But Hartford’s longstanding relationship with Eliano helped Ohio State seal the deal fairly quickly, about two-and-a-half months after the Buckeyes made their offer.
HME pic.twitter.com/EdO4KvlNwB
— Malik Hartford (@MalikHartford) April 6, 2022
“It's definitely been growing,” Hartford said of his relationship with Eliano. “I mean, I've known him. I've known him since the beginning of my recruiting process. He was at Cincinnati, and Cincinnati was my first offer, then him moving to Ohio State and then getting offered by Ohio State made me see how much he trusted me and how much he liked my talent.”
In front of his peers and high school coaches at Lakota West High School, Hartford announced his verbal commitment to play for the Buckeyes on Wednesday, taking off his jacket to reveal an Ohio State shirt and later flipping on an Ohio State cap.
Four-star 2023 Ohio safety Malik Hartford has committed to Ohio State. pic.twitter.com/qZfyzgWfmY
— Garrick Hodge (@Garrick_Hodge) April 6, 2022
He didn’t have to end his recruitment this early. After the OSU offer came, more quickly followed from top Power 5 programs including Penn State, Notre Dame and Michigan. Those were the type of offers Hartford had craved, but ever since he was offered by OSU, his thoughts kept coming back to the Buckeyes. Hartford silently committed a few weeks ago, letting Ryan Day and Eliano know his decision before he publicly announced it on Wednesday.
“For me, I got all the offers I felt like I needed,” Hartford said of his decision to commit to Ohio State. “I got all the big schools I felt like I needed to have. And from there, I just chose Ohio State because it felt like the right place.”
So, why did he choose Ohio State in the first place?
“The program in general,” Hartford said. “The ability to play for championships, get developed, go to the NFL.”
Day and Eliano weren’t the only ones to get early inside info. Hartford also told high school teammate and Ohio State offensive lineman signee Tegra Tshabola, one of two of Hartford’s high school teammates that he’ll join in Columbus next year along with cornerback Jyaire Brown, of his decision before he shared it with the public.
“It's awesome,” Tshabola said of Hartford picking Ohio State. “I've known Malik playing ball since he was in seventh grade. I've seen it happen. I’m just happy for him that he finally gets a chance to show what he's got.”
LEEEEK #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/asxNefUR9d
— Tegra Masta T Tshabola (@tshabola_tegra) April 6, 2022
During the recruiting process, Hartford sometimes sought out the advice of his high school teammate and soon-to-be college teammate.
“Whenever he came to me, I gave him my advice,” Tshabola said. “My advice from my recruitment told me some things that I know how to handle certain situations, how to avoid certain situations and things like that, but he did most of this on his own.”
With his recruitment over, Hartford said he’s willing to embrace a role as a peer recruiter for Ohio State, similar to the role offensive tackle Luke Montgomery has taken on. His prime targets? Fellow 2023 premier safeties Caleb Downs and Joenel Aguero.
“I could definitely see myself helping to recruit other guys,” Hartford said.
Now that his college decision is made, Hartford is continuing to heal from a torn labrum he suffered midseason in 2021, but he says he’ll be back to full speed by the summer. Although he was playing through a shoulder injury, Hartford continued to be an effective player for the Firebirds last fall. He says the adrenaline of being out on the field helped numb the pain, and his toughness impressed his teammates and coaches alike.
“It was funny because you will look at some of his highlight videos, he's cleaning guys’ clocks,” Lakota West coach Tom Bolden said of Hartford playing through his injury. “The purist would look at it and say, ‘Oh, that's not very good.’ But he was able to get them on the ground. And a lot of that had to do with we didn't want him to stick that arm out there. He's young, he's healthy, he'll recover.”
Because of the defense Bolden and Lakota West deploy, Hartford may not have as big of a learning curve from a schematic standpoint as other freshmen when he arrives on campus. Similar to Jim Knowles’ defensive scheme, the Firebirds utilize three safeties at once.
“It’ll be perfect for him,” Bolden said of Hartford’s fit in OSU’s three-safety scheme. “I mean, (Lakota West is) talented, we got five defensive backs with Division I offers, that's pretty special. And to see him out there, leading that up who can come down on the boxing play over the top, he can run the out. I mean, he can do a lot of special things.”
Hartford said he hasn’t been told by anyone at OSU whether he projects as more of a strong or free safety, just that he’s viewed as a versatile, long and fast player. Bolden said he could handle either role just fine, but thinks Hartford is best suited for a free safety role.
“He could do free, he could do strong, but yeah, he's more of a free safety,” Bolden said. “I would think so because of how much ground he could cover. It's ridiculous.”
Injury and all, Hartford registered 58 tackles, two interceptions and a sack for Lakota West last season. The 6-foot-3, 175-pound prospect was also a dynamic special teams player, blocking six kicks in 2021 and excelling in kickoff coverage. If he continues to display his tenacity for blocking and covering kicks when he arrives in Columbus, he could find himself on the field sooner rather than later.
“I take pride in every aspect of the game, so whatever will help my team win and help me get on the field, I'll definitely take advantage of,” Hartford said.
Bolden believes Hartford has only begun to realize his potential as a football player, as Hartford grew up playing primarily lacrosse in Maine before his family moved to Ohio.
“It'll be scary because I think a lot of his best football is ahead of him,” Bolden said. “The ceiling (at the next level) is crazy high because I mean, think 12 months from now physically what he's gonna look like. It's gonna be scary.”
